Gerald Finley bass-baritone Julius Drake piano - Michael Mofidian bass-baritone Jâms Coleman piano Saturday 24 April 2021 6.00pm Leeds Town Hall ...

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Gerald Finley bass-baritone Julius Drake piano - Michael Mofidian bass-baritone Jâms Coleman piano Saturday 24 April 2021 6.00pm Leeds Town Hall ...
Gerald Finley bass-baritone

    Julius Drake piano

 Michael Mofidian bass-baritone

     Jâms Coleman piano

    Saturday 24 April 2021

            6.00pm

       Leeds Town Hall
Gerald Finley bass-baritone Julius Drake piano - Michael Mofidian bass-baritone Jâms Coleman piano Saturday 24 April 2021 6.00pm Leeds Town Hall ...
PROGRAMME

Michael Mofidian and Jâms Coleman - Momentum Artists

Brahms                           Vier ernste Gesänge

                                 Denn es gehet dem Menschen

                                 Ich wandte mich

                                 O Tod, wie bitter bist du

                                 Wenn ich mit Menschen und mit Engelzungen redete

            _________________________________________________

Gerald Finley and Julius Drake

Schubert                         Die Schöne Müllerin

                                 Das Wandern
                                 Wohin?
                                 Halt
                                 Danksagung an den Bach
                                 Am Feierabend
                                 Der Neugierige
                                 Ungeduld
                                 Morgengruß
                                 Des Müllers Blumen
                                 Tränenregen
                                 Mein
                                 Pause
                                 Mit dem grünen Lautenbande
Der Jäger
Eifersucht und Stolz
Die liebe Farbe
Die böse Farbe
Trockne Blumen
Der Müller und der Bach
Des Baches Wiegenlied
Leeds Lieder Concert Season 2020-21
                                   Momentum Programme
                                Michael Mofidian bass-baritone
                                    Jȃms Coleman piano

                                     Johannes Brahms        (1833-1897)
                                Vier ernste Gesänge - Four Serious Songs

Denn es gehet dem Menschen                            For that which befalleth the sons of men...
Denn es gehet dem Menschen wie dem Vieh;              For that which befalleth the sons of men befalleth
wie dies stirbt, so stirbt er auch;                   beasts, as the one dieth, so dieth the other;
und haben alle einerlei Odem;                         yea, they have all one breath;
und der Mensch hat nichts mehr denn das Vieh:         so that a man hath no preeminence above a beast:
denn es ist alles eitel.                              for all is vanity.
Es fährt alles an einem Ort; es ist alles von         All go unto one place; all are of the dust
Staub gemacht, und wird wieder zu Staub.              and all turn to dust again.
Wer weiß, ob der Geist des Menschen aufwärts          Who knoweth the spirit of man that goeth upward,
fahre, und der Odem des Viehes unterwärts             and the spirit of the beast that goeth downward to
unter die Erde fahre?                                 the earth?

Darum sahe ich, daß nichts bessers ist, denn          Wherefore I perceive that there is nothing better,
daß der Mensch fröhlich sei in seiner Arbeit,         than that a man should rejoice in his own works;
denn das ist sein Teil.                               for that is his portion:
Denn wer will ihn dahin bringen, daß er sehe,         for who shall bring him to see what shall be after
was nach ihm geschehen wird?                          him?
Ecclesiastes 3: 19-22

Ich wandte mich und sahe an                           So I returned, and considered
Ich wandte mich und sahe an alle, die Unrecht         So I returned, and considered all the oppressions
leiden unter der Sonne; und siehe, da waren           that are done under the sun: and behold the tears
Tränen derer, die Unrecht litten und hatten           of such as were oppressed, and they had no
keinen Tröster; und die ihnen Unrecht täten,          comforter; and on the side of their oppressors there
waren zu mächtig, daß sie keinen Tröster haben        was power; but they had no comforter.
konnten.

Da lobte ich die Toten, die schon gestorben           Wherefore I praised the dead which are already
waren mehr als die Lebendigen, die noch das           dead more than the living which are yet alive.
Leben hatten;

Und der noch nicht ist, ist besser, als alle beide,   Yea, better is he than both they, which hath not yet
Und des Bösen nicht inne wird, das unter der          been, who hath not seen the evil work that is done
Sonne geschieht.                                      under the sun.

Ecclesiastes 4: 1-3
O Tod, wie bitter bist du                            O death, how bitter is the remembrance...

O Tod, wie bitter bist du, wenn an dich              O death, how bitter is the remembrance of thee to
gedenket ein Mensch, der gute Tage und               a man that liveth at rest in his possessions, unto
genug hat und ohne Sorge lebet; und dem es           the man that hath nothing to vex him, and that
wohl geht in allen Dingen und noch wohl essen        hath prosperity in all things: yea, unto him that is
mag!                                                 yet able to receive meat!

O Tod, wie wohl tust du dem Dürftigen, der da        O death, acceptable is thy sentence unto the
schwach und alt ist, der in allen Sorgen steckt,     needy, and unto him whose strength faileth, that
und nichts Bessers zu hoffen, noch zu erwarten       is now in the last age, and is vexed with all things,
hat!                                                 and to him that despaireth and hath lost patience.

Ecclesiastes 41: 1–2

Wenn ich mit Menschen und mit...                     Though I speak with the tongues of men...

Wenn ich mit Menschen und mit Engelszungen           Though I speak with the tongues of men and of
redete, und hätte der Liebe nicht, so wär' ich ein   angels, and have not charity, I am become as
tönend Erz, oder eine klingende Schelle.             sounding brass, or a tinkling cymbal.

Und wenn ich weissagen könnte, und wüßte alle        And though I have the gift of prophecy, and
Geheimnisse und alle Erkenntnis, und hätte           understand all mysteries, and all knowledge; and
allen Glauben, also daß ich Berge versetzte,         though I have all faith, so that I could remove
und hätte der Liebe nicht,so wäre ich nichts.        mountains, and have not charity, I am nothing.

Und wenn ich alle meine Habe den Armen               And though I bestow all my goods to feed the
gäbe, und ließe meinen Leib brennen, und hätte       poor, and though I give my body to be burned,
der Liebe nicht, so wäre mir's nichts nütze.         and have not charity, it profiteth me nothing
Wir sehen jetzt durch einen Spiegel In einem         For now we see through a glass, darkly; but then
dunkeln Worte; dann aber von Angesicht zu            face to face:
Angesichte.
Jetzt erkenne ich's stückweise,                      now I know in part;
Dann aber werd ich's erkennen, gleich wie ich        but then shall I know even as also I am known.
erkennet bin.

Nun aber bleibet Glaube, Hoffnung, Liebe,            And now abideth faith, hope, charity, these three;
diese drei; Aber die Liebe ist die größeste unter    but the greatest of these is charity.
ihnen.

1st Corinthians 13: 1-3, 12-13
Gerald Finley bass-baritone

                                  Julius Drake piano

                                 Franz Schubert     (1797-1828)

                                   Die schöne Müllerin
                                  Wilhelm Müller (1794-1827)

 Das Wandern                                Wandering

 Das Wandern ist des Müllers Lust,          To wander is a miller’s delight,
 Das Wandern!                               To wander!
 Das muß ein schlechter Müller sein,        Only a bad miller
 Dem niemals fiel das Wandern ein,          Has never felt like wandering,
 Das Wandern.                               Wandering!

 Vom Wasser haben wir’s gelernt,            We’ve learnt it from the water,
 Vom Wasser!                                The water!
 Das hat nicht Rast bei Tag und Nacht,      It doesn’t rest by night or day,
 Ist stets auf Wanderschaft bedacht,        It’s always intent on wandering,
 Das Wasser.                                The water.

 Das sehn wir auch den Rädern ab,           We see it in the wheels too,
 Den Rädern!                                The wheels!
 Die gar nicht gerne stille stehn,          They never want to stand still,
 Die sich mein Tag nicht müde gehn,         And never get tired the whole day long,
 Die Räder.                                 The wheels.

 Die Steine selbst, so schwer sie sind,     Even the stones, heavy as they are,
 Die Steine!                                The stones!
 Sie tanzen mit den muntern Reihn           They dance along cheerfully
 Und wollen gar noch schneller sein,        Wanting to move even faster,
 Die Steine.                                The stones.

 O Wandern, Wandern, meine Lust,            Oh wandering, wandering, my delight
 O Wandern!                                 Oh wandering!
 Herr Meister und Frau Meisterin,           Master and Mistress,
 Laßt mich in Frieden weiter ziehn          Let me go my way in peace
 Und wandern.                               Just wandering.

Wohin?                                     Whither?

Ich hört’ ein Bächlein rauschen            I heard a little stream babbling
Wohl aus dem Felsenquell,                  From its rocky source,
Hinab zum Tale rauschen                    Babbling down to the valley,
So frisch und wunderhell.                  So clear and bright.

Ich weiß nicht, wie mir wurde,             I don’t know what came over me,
Nicht, wer den Rat mir gab,                Or who prompted me,
Ich mußte auch hinunter                    But I had to go down too
Mit meinem Wanderstab.                     With my wanderer’s staff.

Hinunter und immer weiter                  Further and further down,
Und immer dem Bache nach,                  Always following the stream,
Und immer heller rauschte,                 And the stream babbled ever more cheerily
Und immer heller der Bach.                 And ever more brightly.
Ist das denn meine Straße?            Is that then the path I should take?
O Bächlein, sprich, wohin?            Little stream, tell me – where does it go?
Du hast mit deinem Rauschen           With your babbling
Mir ganz berauscht den Sinn.          You have completely confused me.

Was sag’ ich denn vom Rauschen?       Why do I speak of babbling?
Das kann kein Rauschen sein:          That can’t be babbling,
Es singen wohl die Nixen              It’s the water nymphs singing
Tief unten ihren Reihn.               As they dance their round far below.

Lass singen, Gesell, lass rauschen,   Let them sing, my friend, let the stream babble,
Und wandre fröhlich nach!             And follow it cheerfully!
Es gehn ja Mühlenräder                For mill wheels turn
In jedem klaren Bach.                 In every clear stream.

Halt                                  Halt

Eine Mühle seh’ ich blinken           I see a mill gleaming
Aus den Erlen heraus,                 Amid the alders,
Durch Rauschen und Singen             Over the babbling and singing
Bricht Rädergebraus.                  I hear the roar of mill-wheels.

Ei willkommen, ei willkommen,         Oh welcome, welcome,
Süßer Mühlengesang!                   Sweet music of the mill!
Und das Haus, wie so traulich!        And the house, how inviting!
Und die Fenster, wie blank!           And the windows, how they sparkle!

Und die Sonne, wie helle              And how brightly the sun
Vom Himmel sie scheint!               Shines in the heavens!
Ei, Bächlein, liebes Bächlein,        Oh stream, dear little stream,
War es also gemeint?                  Was this planned?

Danksagung an den Bach                Thank you, stream

War es also gemeint,                  So was this what you meant,
Mein rauschender Freund,              My dear babbling friend,
Dein Singen, dein Klingen,            Your singing, your murmuring,
War es also gemeint?                  Was this what you meant?

„Zur Müllerin hin!“                   ‘To the maid of the mill!‘
So lautet der Sinn.                   This is your meaning.
Gelt, hab’ ich’s verstanden?          Have I understood you?
„Zur Müllerin hin!                    ‘To the maid of the mill!‘

Hat sie dich geschickt?               Did she send you?
Oder hast mich berückt?               Or are you teasing me?
Das möcht’ ich noch wissen,           That’s what I want to know,
Ob sie dich geschickt.                Did she send you?

Nun wie’s auch mag sein,              Oh well, whatever!
Ich gebe mich drein:                  I’ll go along with it:
Was ich such’, hab’ ich funden,       What I was searching for I have found,
Wie’s immer mag sein.                 However it has happened.

Nach Arbeit ich frug,                 I asked for work,
Nun hab’ ich genug,                   Now Ihave plenty,
Für die Hände, für’s Herze            For my hands, for my heart,
Vollauf genug!                        More than enough!
Am Feierabend                            At the end of the day

Hätt’ ich tausend                        If I had a thousand
Arme zu rühren!                          Arms to wield!
Könnt’ ich brausend                      If only I could drive
Die Räder führen!                        The rushing wheels!
Könnt’ ich wehen                         If only I could blow like the wind
Durch alle Haine!                        Through every wood,
Könnt’ ich drehen                        And turn
Alle Steine!                             Every millstone!
Dass die schöne Müllerin                 So that the beauriful miller maid
Merkte meinen treuen Sinn!               Would see my true love!

Ach, wie ist mein Arm so schwach!        Oh but my arms are so weak!
Was ich hebe, was ich trage,             Whatever I lift, whatever I carry,
Was ich schneide, was ich schlage,       Whatever I cut, whatever I hammer,
Jeder Knappe tut mir’s nach.             Every apprentice can do the same.
Und da sitz’ ich in der grossen Runde,   And here I sit in the midst of the company,
In der stillen kühlen Feierstunde,       In the quiet, cool hour at work’s end,
Und der Meister sagt zu Allen:           And the master says to everyone
„Euer Werk hat mir gefallen;“            “I am pleased with your work,”
Und das liebe Mädchen sagt               And the sweet maid wishes
Allen eine gute Nacht.                   Everyone a good night.

Der Neugieriger                          The inquisitive one

Ich frage keine Blume,                   I can’t ask the flowers,
Ich frage keinen Stern,                  I can’t ask the stars,.
Sie können mir alle nicht sagen,         None of them can tell me
Was ich erführ’ so gern.                 What I so long to know.

Ich bin ja auch kein Gärtner,            I’m no gardener,
Die Sterne stehn zu hoch;                And the stars are too high,
Mein Bächlein will ich fragen,           I will ask my little stream
Ob mich mein Herz belog.                 If my heart has lied to me.

O Bächlein meiner Liebe,                 Oh dear lttle stream,
Wie bist du heut’ so stumm!              Why are you so silent today?
Will ja nur Eines wissen,                I want to know just one thing,
Ein Wörtchen um und um.                  Just say one of two words.

Ja, heißt das eine Wörtchen,             One word would be yes,
Das andre heißet Nein,                   The other would be no,
Die beiden Wörtchen schließen            These two little words
Die ganze Welt mir ein.                  Enclose my whole world.

O Bächlein meiner Liebe,                 Oh dear lttle stream,
Was bist du wunderlich!                  How strange you are!.
Will’s ja nicht weiter sagen,            I won’t tell anyone else,
Sag’, Bächlein, liebt sie mich?          But tell me little stream, does she love me?
Ungeduld                                            Impatience

Ich schnitt’ es gern in alle Rinden ein,            I would like to carve it on the bark of every tree,
Ich grüb’ es gern in jeden Kieselstein,             I would like to inscribe it on every pebble ,
Ich möcht’ es sä’n auf jedes frische Beet           I want to sow it on every fresh plot,
Mit Kressensamen, der es schnell verrät,            With cress seeds to quickly reveal it,
Auf jeden weißen Zettel möcht’ ich’s schreiben:     I want to write it on every bit of white paper,
Dein ist mein Herz, und soll es ewig bleiben.       My heart is yours, and always will be.

Ich möcht’ mir ziehen einen jungen Star,            I wish I could train a young starling
Bis daß er spräch’ die Worte rein und klar,         Until it could speak words purely and clearly,
Bis er sie spräch’ mit meines Mundes Klang,         Until it spoke them with the sound of my voice,
Mit meines Herzens vollem, heißem Drang;            With the whole passionate desire of my heart,
Dann säng’ er hell durch ihre Fensterscheiben:      Then it could sing brightly at her window,
Dein ist mein Herz, und soll es ewig bleiben.       My heart is yours, and always will be.

Den Morgenwinden möcht’ ich’s hauchen ein,          I want to breathe in into the morning breeze,
Ich möcht’ es säuseln durch den regen Hain;         I want to whisper it through the rustling grove,
O, leuchtet’ es aus jedem Blumenstern!              If only it could shine from every flower!
Trüg’ es der Duft zu ihr von nah und fern!          If only sweet fragrances could carry it to her from near
                                                    and far!
Ihr Wogen, könnt ihr nichts als Räder treiben?      You waves, can you drive nothing but millwheels?
Dein ist mein Herz, und soll es ewig bleiben.       My heart is yours, and always will be.

Ich meint’, es müßt’ in meinen Augen stehn,         I’m sure it must shine out from my eyes,
Auf meinen Wangen müßt’ man’s brennen sehn,         It must be seen burning on my cheeks,
Zu lesen wär’s auf meinem stummen Mund,             You must be able to read it on my silent mouth,
Ein jeder Atemzug gäb’s laut ihr kund;              Every sigh must proclaim it;
Und sie merkt nichts von all’ dem bangen Treiben:   But she sees nothing of all this desperate longing.
Dein ist mein Herz, und soll es ewig bleiben!       My heart is yours, and always will be.

Morgengruß                                          Morning Greeting

Guten Morgen, schöne Müllerin!                      Good morning, fair maid of the mill!
Wo steckst du gleich das Köpfchen hin,              Why do you so quickly turn head
Als wär’ dir was geschehen?                         As if something had happened to you?
Verdrießt dich denn mein Gruß so schwer?            Does my greeting displease you so much?
Verstört dich denn mein Blick so sehr?              Does my glance distress you so much?
So muss ich wieder gehen.                           If so, I must go away again.

O laß mich nur von ferne stehn,                     Oh let me stand far off
Nach deinem lieben Fenster sehn,                    And look at your dear window,
Von ferne, ganz von ferne!                          From far away, very far away!
Du blondes Köpfchen, komm hervor!                   Little blond head, show yourself!
Hervor aus eurem runden Tor,                        Come out of your round gates
Ihr blauen Morgensterne!                            You blue stars of morning!

Ihr schlummertrunknen Äugelein,                     You little eyes still drunk with sleep,
Ihr taubetrübten Blümelein,                         Little flowers, saddened by the dew,
Was scheuet ihr die Sonne?                          Why do you avoid the sun?
Hat es die Nacht so gut gemeint,                    Was the night so wonderful
Daß ihr euch schließt und bückt und weint           That you close them and droop and weep
Nach ihrer stillen Wonne?                           For its quiet bliss?

Nun schüttelt ab der Träume Flor,                   Now shake off the veil of dreams
Und hebt euch frisch und frei empor                 And rise up refreshed and free
In Gottes hellen Morgen!                            To God’s bright morning!
Die Lerche wirbelt in der Luft,                     The lark is trilling in the sky,
Und aus dem tiefen Herzen ruft                      And from the depths of your heart
Die Liebe Leid und Sorgen.                          Love draws grief and care.
Des Müllers Blumen                         The Miller’s flowers
Am Bach viel kleine Blumen stehn,          There are many little flowers by the stream,
Aus hellen blauen Augen sehn;              Gazing from clear blue eyes;
Der Bach der ist des Müllers Freund,       The stream is the miller’s friend,
Und hellblau Liebchens Auge scheint;       And my beloved’s eyes are bright blue;
Drum sind es meine Blumen.                 So they are my flowers.
Dicht unter ihrem Fensterlein              Right under her little window
Da will ich pflanzen die Blumen ein,       I will plant the flowers,
Da ruft ihr zu, wenn alles schweigt,       Then call to her, when everything is still,
Wenn sich ihr Haupt zum Schlummer neigt,   When she lays down her head to sleep,
Ihr wißt ja, was ich meine.                Well, you know what I want to say.
Und wenn sie tät die Äuglein zu,           And when she closes her eyes,
Und schläft in süßer, süßer Ruh’,          And sleeps, oh so sweetly,
Dann lispelt als ein Traumgesicht          Then whisper to her as in a dream
Ihr zu: „Vergiß, vergiß mein nicht!“       “Don’t, oh don’t forget me!”
Das ist es, was ich meine.                 That’s what I want to say.
Und schließt sie früh die Laden auf,       And when she opens her shutters in the morning
Dann schaut mit Liebesblick hinauf:        Gaze up at her with a look of love:
Der Tau in euren Äugelein,                 The dew in your little eyes
Das sollen meine Tränen sein,              Will be my tears,
Die will ich auf euch weinen.              Which I will shed on you.

Tränenregen                                Raining tears

Wir sassen so traulich beisammen           We sat comfortably together
Im kühlen Erlendach,                       In the shade of the alders,
Wir schauten so traulich zusammen          And in harmony gazed down
Hinab in den rieselnden Bach.              Into the sparkling stream.

Der Mond war auch gekommen,                The moon had also joined us,
Die Sternlein hinterdrein,                 Followed by the stars,
Und schauten so traulich zusammen          And they gazed down in harmony
In den silbernen Spiegel hinein.           Into the silver mirror.

Ich sah nach keinem Monde,                 I didn’t look at the moon,
Nach keinem Sternenschein,                 Nor at the stars,
Ich schaute nach ihrem Bilde,              I gazed only looked at her reflection,
Nach ihren Augen allein.                   Only at her eyes.

Und sahe sie nicken und blicken            And I saw them nod and gaze up
Herauf aus dem seligen Bach,               From the blissful stream,
Die Blümlein am Ufer, die blauen,          The little blue flowers on the bank,
Sie nickten und blickten ihr nach.         They nodded and looked at her.

Und in den Bach versunken                  It seemed that the whole sky
Der ganze Himmel schien,                   Was immersed in the stream,
Und wollte mich mit hinunter               And wanted to draw me
In seine Tiefe ziehn.                      With it into its depths.

Und über den Wolken und Sternen            And over the clouds and stars
Da rieselte munter der Bach,               The stream rippled merrily,
Und rief mit Singen und Klingen:           And called and sang
„Geselle, Geselle, mir nach!“              “Come on friend, follow me!”

Da gingen die Augen mir über,              Then my eyes fuilled with tears,
Da ward es im Spiegel so kraus;            And the mirror crumpled;
Sie sprach: „Es kommt ein Regen,           She said: “It’s going to rain,
Ade, ich geh’ nach Haus.“                  Goodbye, I’m going home.”
Mein!                                                Mine!
Bächlein, laß dein Rauschen sein!                    Little stream stop your babbling!
Räder, stellt eur Brausen ein!                       Wheels, stop your roaring!
All’ ihr muntern Waldvögelein,                       All you cheerful woodbirds,
Groß und klein,                                      Large and small,
Endet eure Melodein!                                 Stop your warbling!
Durch den Hain                                       Through the wood
Aus und ein                                          Within it and beyond,
Schalle heut’ ein Reim allein:                       Just let one shout resound today:
Die geliebte Müllerin ist mein!                      My beloved, the maid of the mill is mine!
Mein!                                                Mine!
Frühling, sind das alle deine Blümelein?             Spring, are those all your flowers?
Sonne, hast du keinen hellern Schein?                Sun, can you not shine more brightly?
Ach, so muß ich ganz allein,                         Ah, then I have to be alone
Mit dem seligen Worte mein,                          With this blissful word of mine,
Unverstanden in der weiten Schöpfung sein.           With no-one in creation to understand.

Pause                                                Pause
Meine Laute hab’ ich gehängt an die Wand,            I have hung my lute up on the wall,
Hab’ sie umschlungen mit einem grünen Band –         I have tied a green ribbon around it –
Ich kann nicht mehr singen, mein Herz ist zu voll,   I can’t sing any more, my heart is too full,
Weiß nicht, wie ich’s in Reime zwingen soll.         I don’t know how I can fashion it into rhyme.
Meiner Sehnsucht allerheißesten Schmerz              The most burning pangs of my longing
Durft’ ich aushauchen in Liederscherz,               I could express in playfil song,
Und wie ich klagte so süß und fein,                  And as I lamented so sweetly and tenderly
Glaubt’ ich doch, mein Leiden wär’ nicht klein.      I thought my suffering was not trifling,
Ei, wie groß ist wohl meines Glückes Last,           Oh, how great is the burden of my joy,
Daß kein Klang auf Erden es in sich faßt?            That no sound on earth can contain it?

Nun, liebe Laute, ruh’ an dem Nagel hier!            So, dear lute, rest on this nail!
Und weht ein Lüftchen über die Saiten dir,           And if a breeze wafts over your strings,
Und streift eine Biene mit ihren Flügeln dich,       Or of a bee grazes you with its wings,
Da wird mir so bange und es durchschauert mich.      I shall be afraidand shudder
Warum ließ ich das Band auch hängen so lang’?        Why did I allow the ribbon to hang down so far?
Oft fliegt’s um die Saiten mit seufzendem Klang.     If often flutters by the strings making them sigh.
Ist es der Nachklang meiner Liebespein?              Is it the echo of the pain of my love?
Soll es das Vorspiel neuer Lieder sein?              Or is it the prelude to new songs?
Mit dem grünen Lautenbande                           To accompany the lute’s green ribbon.

Mit dem grünen Lautenband                            With the green lute ribbon
„Schad’ um das schöne grüne Band,                    “Shame about the pretty green ribbon,
Daß es verbleicht hier an der Wand,                  It’s faded here on the wall,
Ich hab’ das Grün so gern!“                          And I like green so much!”
So sprachst du, Liebchen, heut’ zu mir;              That’s what you, my darling, said to me today,
Gleich knüpf’ ich’s ab und send’ es dir:             I untied it straight away and sent it to you:
Nun hab’ das Grüne gern!                             So enjoy the green!
Ist auch dein ganzer Liebster weiß,                  Though your sweetheart is all in white
Soll Grün doch haben seinen Preis,                   Green will have its reward,
Und ich auch hab’ es gern.                           And I like it too!
Weil unsre Lieb’ ist immergrün,                      Because our love is evergreen,
Weil grün der Hoffnung Fernen blühn,                 Because distant hopes blossom green,
Drum haben wir es gern.                              That’s why we love it.
Nun schlinge in die Locken dein                      Now wind this green ribbon
Das grüne Band gefällig ein,                         Prettily in your hair,
Du hast ja’s Grün so gern.                           You like green so much.
Dann weiß ich, wo die Hoffnung grünt,                Then I will know where hope dwells,
Dann weiß ich, wo die Liebe tront,                   Then I will know where love rules,
Dann hab’ ich’s Grün erst gern.                      Only then will I really love green!
Der Jäger                                                  The Huntsman

Was sucht denn der Jäger am Mühlbach hier?                 What is this huntsman doing here by the millstream?
Bleib’, trotziger Jäger, in deinem Revier!                 Stay, defiant huntsman, in your own territory.
Hier gibt es kein Wild zu jagen für dich,                  There is no game for you to hunt here,
Hier wohnt nur ein Rehlein, ein zahmes, für mich.          There is only one little fawn here, a tame one, for me.
Und willst du das zärtliche Rehlein sehn,                  And if you want to see than gentle fawn,
So laß deine Büchsen im Walde stehn,                       Then leave your guns in the forest,
Und laß deine klaffenden Hunde zu Haus,                    And leave your baying hounds at home,
Und laß auf dem Horne den Saus und Braus,                  And stop making all that noise on your horn,
Und scheere vom Kinne das struppige Haar,                  And shave that coarse hair off your chin,
Sonst scheut sich im Garten das Rehlein fürwahr.           Or you will really frighten the fawn in the garden.

Doch besser, du bliebest im Walde dazu,                    But it would be much better if you stayed in the forest,
Und ließest die Mühlen und Müller in Ruh’.                 And leave the mills and millers in peace.
Was taugen die Fischlein im grünen Gezweig?                How can fish thrive among green branches?
Was will denn das Eichhorn im bläulichen Teich?            What can a squirrel want in the blue pond?
Drum bleibe, du trotziger Jäger, im Hain,                  So, defiant huntsman, stay in the woods,
Und laß mich mit meinen drei Rädern allein;                And leave me alone with my three millwheels;
Und willst meinem Schätzchen dich machen beliebt           And it you want to please my sweetheart
So wisse, mein Freund, was ihr Herzchen betrüht:           Take note, my friend, what distresses her heart:
Die Eber, die kommen zur Nacht aus dem Hain,               Wild boars come out of the forest at night
Und brechen in ihren Kohlgarten ein,                       And break into her cabbafe patch,
Und treten und wühlen herum in dem Feld:                   Rooting and trampling around in the field.
Die Eber die schieße, du Jägerheld!                        Shoot the wild boars huntsman!

Eifersucht und Stolz                                       Jealousy and Pride

Wohin so schnell, so kraus und wild, mein lieber           Where are you rushing to, dear stream, so ruffled
Bach?                                                      and wild
Eilst du voll Zorn dem frechen Bruder Jäger nach?          Are you dashing after our insolent huntsman friend in
                                                           anger?
Kehr’ um, kehr’ um, und schilt erst deine Müllerin         Turn back, turn back, and first scold your miller maid
Für ihren leichten, losen, kleinen Flattersinn.            For her frivolous, wanton ficklemess.
Sahst du sie gestern abend nicht am Tore stehn,            Didn’t you see her yesterday evening standing at the
                                                           gate,
Mit langem Halse nach der großen Straße sehn?              Craning her neck as she peered down the high
                                                           road?
Wenn von dem Fang der Jäger lustig zieht nach              When a huntsman comes back merrily after the kill
Haus,
Da steckt kein sittsam Kind den Kopf zum Fenster           No nice girl sits with her head out of the window.
’naus.
Geh’, Bächlein, hin und sag’ ihr das, doch sag’ ihr        Go, little stream, and tell her that, but don’t say a
nicht,                                                     word,
Hörst du, kein Wort, von meinem traurigen Gesicht;         Do you hear? - about my mournful face.
Sag’ ihr: Er schnitzt bei mir sich eine Pfeif’ aus Rohr,   Tell her, he is on my banks carving a reed pipe
Und bläst den Kindern schöne Tänz’ und Lieder vor.         And is playing pretty songs and dances for the
                                                           children.

        Die liebe Farbe                                    The lovely colour

        In Grün will ich mich kleiden,                     I will dress myself in green,
        In grüne Tränenweiden,                             In green weeping willows,
        Mein Schatz hat’s Grün so gern.                    My love is so fond of green.
        Will suchen einen Zypressenhain,                   I will search out a cypress grove,
        Eine Heide von grünem Rosmarein,                   A heath full of green rosemary,
        Mein Schatz hat’s Grün so gern.                    My love is so fond of green.
Wohlauf zum fröhlichen Jagen!                 Up and away to the merry hunt!
Wohlauf durch Heid’ und Hagen!                Away over heath and hedge!
Mein Schatz hat’s Jagen so gern.              My love is so fond of the hunt.
Das Wild, das ich jage, das ist der Tod,      The game that I pursue, is death,
Die Heide, die heiss ich die Liebesnot,       The heath, I call the torment of love.
Mein Schatz hat’s Jagen so gern.              My love is so fond of the hunt.

Grabt mir ein Grab im Wasen,                  Dig me a grave in the grass,
Deckt mich mit grünem Rasen,                  Cover me with green turf,
Mein Schatz hat’s Grün so gern.               My love is so fond of green.
Kein Kreuzlein schwarz, kein Blümlein bunt,   No little black cross, no colourful flowers,
Grün, alles grün so rings und rund!           Green, just everything green all around!
Mein Schatz hat’s Grün so gern.               My love is so fond of green.

Die böse Farbe                                The hateful colour

Ich möchte ziehn in die Welt hinaus,          I want to set off out into the world,
Hinaus in die weite Welt,                     Out into the wide world,
Wenn’s nur so grün, so grün nicht wär’        If only it wasn’t so green, so green,
Da draußen in Wald und Feld!                  Out there in the woods and fields.

Ich möchte die grünen Blätter all’            I want to pick all the green leaves
Pflücken von jedem Zweig,                     From every twig,
Ich möchte die grünen Gräser all’             I want to weep all the grass
Weinen ganz totenbleich.                      White with my tears.

Ach Grün, du böse Farbe du,                   Oh green, you hateful colour,
Was siehst mich immer an,                     Why do you constantly look at me,
So stolz, so keck, so schadenfroh,            So proud, so insolent, so gloating,
Mich armen, armen weißen Mann?                At poor me, at this poor white miller?

Ich möchte liegen vor ihrer Tür,              I want to lie at her door,
Im Sturm und Regen und Schnee,                In storm and rain and snow,
Und singen ganz leise bei Tag und Nacht       And sing softly night and day
Das eine Wörtchen Ade!                        The one little word – farewell!

Horch, wenn im Wald ein Jagdhorn schallt,     Listen, when a horn sounds in the forest
Da klingt ihr Fensterlein,                    There’s the sound of her window opening,
Und schaut sie auch nach mir nicht aus,       And even thought she isn’t looking out for me,
Darf ich doch schauen hinein.                 I can look in at her.

O binde von der Stirn dir ab                  Oh unbind that ribbon from your brow,
Das grüne, grüne Band,                        That green, green ribbon,
Ade, Ade! und reiche mir                      Farewell, farewell, and
Zum Abschied deine Hand!                      Give me your hand in parting.

    Trockene Blumen                              Dried flowers
    Ihr Blümlein alle,                           All you flowers,
    Die sie mir gab,                             Which she gave me,
    Euch soll man legen                          They should place you
    Mit mir ins Grab.                            With me in my grave.
    Wie seht ihr alle                            Why do you look at me
    Mich an so weh,                              So sorrowfully,
    Als ob ihr wüßtet,                           As if you knew
    Wie mir gescheh’?                            What has befallen me?
    Ihr Blümlein alle,                           All you flowers,
    Wie welk, wie blaß?                          So faded, so pale,
    Ihr Blümlein alle                            All you flowers
    Wovon so naß?                                Why are you so moist?
Ach, Tränen machen                            Alas, tears don’t create
Nicht maiengrün,                              The green of May,
Machen tote Liebe                             They don’t make dead love
Nicht wieder blühn.                           Blossom again.
Und Lenz wird kommen                          And Spring will come,
Und Winter wird gehn,                         And Winter will go,
Und Blümlein werden                           And there will be flowers
Im Grase stehn.                               In the grass.
Und Blümlein liegen                           And flowers willl lie
In meinem Grab,                               In my grave,
Die Blümlein alle,                            All the flowers
Die sie mir gab.                              That she gave me.
Und wenn sie wandelt                          And when she walks
Am Hügel vorbei,                              Past the mound,
Und denkt im Herzen:                          And thinks in her heart
„Der meint’ es treu!“                         “His love was true!”
Dann Blümlein alle,                           Then little flowers,
Heraus, heraus!                               Come forth, come forth!
Der Mai ist kommen,                           May has arrived,
Der Winter ist aus.                           Winter is over.

Der Müller und der Bach                       The miller and the stream
Der Müller: Wo ein treues Herze               The miller: When a faithful heart
In Liebe vergeht,                             Dies of love,
Da welken die Lilien                          The lilies wilt
Auf jedem Beet.                               In their beds.
Da muss in die Wolken                         The full moon
Der Vollmond gehn,                            Must hide bhind the clouds,
Damit seine Tränen                            So that no-one
Die Menschen nicht sehn.                      Can see its tears.
Da halten die Englein                         And the angels
Die Augen sich zu,                            Close their eyes,
Und schluchzen und singen                     And sob and sing
Die Seele zu Ruh’.                            The soul to its rest.
Der Bach: Und wenn sich die Liebe             The stream: And when love
Dem Schmerz entringt,                         Struggles free from sorrow,
Ein Sternlein, ein neues                      A new little star
Am Himmel erblinkt.                           Appears in the heavens.
Da springen drei Rosen,                       Three roses spring up,
Halb rot und halb weiß,                       Half red and half white,
Die welken nicht wieder                       They will not fade again,
Aus Dornenreis.                               From their thorny stems.
Und die Engelein schneiden                    And the angels
Die Flügel sich ab,                           Cut off their wings,
Und gehn alle Morgen                          And every morning
Zur Erde herab.                               All descend to the earth.
Der Müller: Ach, Bächlein, liebes Bächlein,   The miller: Oh stream, dear stream,
Du meinst es so gut:                          You mean so well,
Ach, Bächlein, aber weißt du,                 But, little stream, do you know
Wie Liebe tut?                                What love can do?
Ach, unten, da unten,                         Down below, down below,
Die kühle Ruh’!                               There is cool rest!
Ach, Bächlein, liebes Bächlein,               Oh stream, dear little stream,
So singe nur zu.                              Carry on singing.
Des Baches Wiegenlied                                 The stream’s lullaby

Gute Ruh’, gute Ruh’,                                 Sleep well, sleep well,
Tu’ die Augen zu!                                     Close your eyes!
Wandrer, du müder, du bist zu Haus.                   Tired wanderer, you are at home!
Die Treu’ ist hier,                                   Here is constancy;
Sollst liegen bei mir,                                You will lie with me,
Bis das Meer will trinken die Bächlein aus.           Until the sea swallows all the little streams.

Will betten dich kühl,                                I shall prepare you a cool bed,
Auf weichen Pfühl,                                    On soft pillows,
In dem blauen krystallenen Kämmerlein.                In the little blue crystal chamber.
Heran, heran,                                         Come on, come on,
Was wiegen kann,                                      All you who can lull,
Woget und wieget den Knaben mir ein.                  Rock and lull this lad for me.

Wenn ein Jagdhorn schallt                             If a hunting horn sounds
Aus dem grünen Wald,                                  From the gree forest
Will ich sausen und brausen wohl um dich her.         I will rush and surge around you!
Blickt nicht herein,                                  Don’t look in,
Blaue Blümelein,                                      Little blue flowers,
Ihr macht meinem Schläfer die Träume so schwer.       You will give my sleeper bad dreams.

Hinweg, hinweg                                        Away away
Von dem Mühlensteg,                                   From the mill path,
Böses Mägdelein, daß ihn dein Schatten nicht weckt!   Wicked girl, lest your shadow wake him!
Wirf mir herein                                       Throw me
Dein Tüchlein fein,                                   Your delicate shawl
Dass ich die Augen ihm halte bedeckt.                 So that I can keep his eyes covered.

Gute Nacht, gute Nacht!!                              Good night, good night,
Bis alles wacht,!                                     Till everything awakes.
Schlaf’ aus deine Freude, schlaf’ aus dein Leid!!     Sleep away your joy, sleep away your sorrow!
Der Vollmond steigt,!                                 The full moon is rising,
Der Nebel weicht,!                                    The mist is dispersing,
Und der Himmel da droben, wie ist er so weit!         And the heavens above are so wide!
PROGRAMME NOTES

Brahms         Vier ernste Gesänge op. 121

            Max Klinger, 'Accorde' (1894) from his Brahms-Phantasie:
                          Klinger himself is playing the piano

Brahms composed this work in Vienna in 1896. It was his last publication in the last year of
his life. He dedicated it to the artist Max Klinger, his friend for some twenty years. Klinger
was a good pianist and was also a friend of the composer Reger. He had created a series of
prints called ‘Brahms Fantasies’ in 1894.
The Vier ernste Gesänge were written after Clara Schumann had suffered a stroke that year,
and Brahms was anticipating her death. He finished the set by his birthday on 7th May and
Clara died on the 20th. Brahms himself was suffering from liver cancer from which he died
the following year. The first performance was given in Vienna in November 1896 in the
presence of the composer, by two Dutch musicians, Anton Sistermans and the
pianist Coenraad Bos. Brahms came backstage and thanked them for the performance,
which he said perfectly realised his intentions. But there was another performance with the
same pianist a fortnight later which Brahms attended. On this occasion the singer could not
control the very quiet ending and told Bos to continue a crescendo, ending very loudly
instead of quietly.
The singer apologised to Brahms but Brahms replied ‘You sang them magnificently. I did not
notice anything wrong’.
The prose texts, taken from the Luther Bible like the text of his Deutsches Requiem, do not
suggest strophic forms, but Brahms constructs these songs with clear elements of symmetry
and balance. There is an overall progression from despair to love, reflected in the music in
that each song becomes more major-key oriented than the one before it. The economical
piano parts are not without drama, as in ‘Denn es gehet dem Menschen’. The melodic line
of descending thirds that features in the second and third songs is related to the opening
theme of Brahms’s fourth symphony. The austerity of Brahms’s musical language in these
songs is particularly evident in ‘O Tod, wie bitter bist du’, which has all the appearance on
the page of much older music by composers like Schütz (Brahms was very interested in
baroque music). There is a striking change of mood for ‘Wenn ich mit Menschen‘, with
rhythmic energy (a faster tempo than the other songs) and relative optimism (a major-key
opening) for St Paul’s words about love.

Schubert                       Die schöne Müllerin

Title page of the 1st edition from Sauer & Leidesdorf, with a more picturesque edition by Diabelli

Schubert (R) with the singer Vogl (L) (1825)
Die schöne Müllerin
This is Schubert’s first song-cycle, described as such on the title page (‘Zyklus von Liedern’).
Johann Müller Die schöne Müllerin, published in 1820, originated some years earlier in a
literary game which started in 1816.
Müller joined a salon which staged a Liederspiel, a little drama told in poetry and song.
Its subject was based on the folk story of a miller’s daughter choosing between various
suitors. Salon members acted in various roles, writing their own songs (and referring to their
own real-life romantic entanglements). Unsurprisingly, Müller played the miller.
Müller eventually wrote a complete cycle of poems, and a first draft was finished by 1817. He
expanded the cycle in 1820 and published it in his Sieben und Siebzig Gedichte aus den
hinterlassenen Papieren eines reisenden Waldhornisten (Seventy-Seven Poems from the
Posthumous Papers of a Travelling Horn Player) in 1821.
It is not known how Schubert came to know these poems. An apocryphal story relates how
Schubert simply found the poetry in a friend’s house and just took it home; apparently, its
owner called on Schubert the next day to retrieve it and was presented with the book as well
as the first few songs in the cycle. However, more recently it has been suggested that the
composer Weber introduced Schubert to Müller’s poetry when he visited Vienna in 1822.
At all events, he composed most of the songs in a few months in 1823, while he was also
working on his opera Fierrabras. Schubert was ill from syphilis and during at least some of
this time he was hospitalized, so he may have composed part of the cycle while in hospital.
In 1824 Schubert wrote to a friend:
 ... imagine a man whose health will never be right again; Imagine a man, I say, whose most
brilliant hopes have come to nothing, to whom the joy of love and friendship have nothing to
offer but pain. I may well sing every day now, for each night, I go to bed hoping never to
wake again, and each morning only tells me of yesterday’s grief.
There is a very clear sense of form at every level in the cycle. The whole cycle is in two
parts, separated by a ‘Pause’. Most of the songs are strophic, repeating the same melody to
each stanza, although this is sometimes modified.
Some through-composed songs also include an element of repetition. Popular tunes are
evoked – the opening ‘Das Wandern’ could almost be a song for Papageno. As in
Winterreise, the natural world is present, most obviously in the brook, but there are also the
water wheel and musical instruments (lute and hunting horn). The colour green is also
significant, found in the huntsman’s clothes and the ribbon, and the subject of several songs.
If in general there are fewer detailed evocations of the natural world than in Winterreise, the
brook plays a central role. It winds its way through the cycle, guiding the young man to the
mill, acting as his confidant, and finally singing him a lullaby. The few notes that open
‘Danksagung an den Bach’ return as the motif of ‘Des Baches Wiegenlied’ – we think the
stream is actually answering the young man with an offer of permanent rest. Indeed, the
stream is more a presence than the girl – but Diabelli’s title page uses her as a marketing
device. The hunting horns are not just conventional topics of romanticism.
Listen to how in ‘Die liebe Farbe’ the man notes how the girl likes green, the huntsman’s
colour – and a hunting horn appears in the piano part at ‘Mein Schatz hat’s Jagen so gern’ in
the major and then the minor.
Schubert and the singer Johann Vogl frequently performed songs from Die schöne Müllerin
in concerts throughout Austria in mid-1820s. Vogl was a well-known opera singer who had
retired from the stage in 1823. Schubert admired him, saying ‘The manner in which Vogl
sings and the way I accompany, as though we were one at such a moment, is something
quite new and unheard-of for these people.’ Vogl would elaborate Schubert’s melodic lines,
was somewhat affected in performance, and had a habit of toying with his spectacles while
singing. Vogl thought Schubert’s songs were ‘truly divine inspirations, the utterance of a
musical clairvoyance.’ In 1830 a version of Die schöne Müllerin was published including
Vogl’s embellishments and alterations, which was for many years seen as the standard text
of that work. But a complete performance of the cycle – something we take for granted now
– did not happen until 1856, given by Julius Stockhausen, and it was entirely normal for
singers to perform selections from what we now call song-cycles throughout the 19th century.
Schubert’s friend Joseph von Spaun summed up his achievement:
In this category he stands unexcelled, even unapproached … Every one of his songs is in
reality a poem on the poem he set to music … Who among those who had the good
fortune to hear some of his greatest songs does not remember how this music made a long
familiar poem new for him, how it was suddenly revealed to him and penetrated to his very
depth.

© Dr George Kennaway 2021
GERALD FINLEY

Grammy-award winning Canadian bass-baritone Gerald Finley is a leading singer and
dramatic interpreter of his generation, with acclaimed performances at the world’s major
opera and concert venues and award-winning recordings on CD and DVD with major labels
in a wide variety of repertoire.
He began with Mozart’s baritone roles: his Don Giovanni and Count Le nozze di Figaro have
been heard live throughout the world and on DVD. Recent signature roles include Guillaume
Tell (Metropolitan Opera, Accademia di Santa Cecilia, ROH, recorded on EMI), Scarpia
(ROH, Berlin Staatsoper), Iago (ROH, Bayerische Staatsoper, COC), and Bartok’s Bluebeard
(Met, LSO). He created Harry Heegan in Mark Anthony Turnage's The Silver Tassie, Howard
K. Stern in Turnage’s Anna Nicole, J. Robert Oppenheimer in John Adams’ Doctor Atomic,
Jaufré Rudel in Saariaho's L’amour de loin and Mr. Fox in Tobias Picker’s Fantastic Mr. Fox.
 In recent years, critical successes have been in the Wagner repertoire: Hans Sachs
(Glyndebourne, Opéra de Paris), Amfortas Parsifal (ROH, Vienna Staatsoper), and Wolfram
Tannhäuser (Lyric Opera of Chicago). His expanding repertoire includes Verdi’s Falstaff
(COC), Iago Otello (ROH, LSO/LSO Live and COC), and The Traveller/multiple role Death in
Venice (ROH). Other recent and important roles include Don Alfonso Cosi fan tutte (Met),
Golaud, Eugene Onegin and Nick Shadow. Concert appearances include King of Scotland
Ariodante, title role Il prigioniero (NYPO and BRSO) and Chou en Lai Nixon in China (BBC
SO). On the LSO Live label he has recently released an acclaimed recording of Janacek’s
Cunning Little Vixen.
Mr Finley’s concert work is a vital part of his career with recent appearances with the Berlin
Philharmonic, the Concertgebouw Orchestra Amsterdam, the Bavarian Radio Symphony
Orchestra, the Mahler Chamber Orchestra, and the Los Angeles Philharmonic Orchestra.
Modern day composers have written extensively for Mr Finley including Peter Lieberson
(“Songs of Love and Sorrow” with the Boston Symphony, recorded with the Helsinki Radio
Orchestra), Mark Anthony Turnage (“When I woke” with the LPO), Huw Watkins, Julian
Philips, Kaija Saariaho (“True Fire” with the Los Angeles Philharmonic), and Einojuhani
Rautavaara (“Rubáiyát” with the Helsinki Philharmonic). He appeared as the star soloist for
the 2018 BBC Last Night of the Proms.
As a celebrated song recitalist, he works regularly with pianist Julius Drake. Recent
engagements include the Schubertiade, recitals throughout Europe, a residency at the
Wigmore Hall, at New York’s Carnegie-Zankel Hall and appearances at the Tanglewood and
Ravinia Festivals. He presents Schubert’s Schwanengesang at the 2021 Salzburg Festival,
and Schumann’s Dichterliebe at the Edinburgh Festival.
Mr Finley’s many critically acclaimed solo recital CD releases on the Hyperion label have
been devoted to complete discs of songs of Barber, Britten, Ives, Liszt, Ravel, Schumann’s
song cycles Dichterliebe and Liederkreis Op. 24 & 39, Schubert’s Schwanengesang,
Winterreise and the soon to be released Die schöne Müllerin. He has been awarded an
unprecedented three Gramophone Magazine Awards in the Solo Vocal category. The release
of Schubert’s Winterreise won a Canadian Juno Award in 2015. His recent Orchestral songs
by Sibelius (Bergen Philharmonic, Chandos) was nominated "Best Vocal Album” by
Gramophone Magazine.
Gerald Finley, born in Montreal, began singing as a chorister in Ottawa, Canada, and
completed his musical studies in the UK at the Royal College of Music, King’s College,
Cambridge, and the National Opera Studio. He is a Fellow and Visiting Professor at the
Royal College of Music. In 2014 he climbed Kilimanjaro for the charity Help Musicians UK.
He has been appointed Commander of the Order of the British Empire and an Officer of the
Order of Canada. Mr Finley also features on a Canadian stamp celebrating Canadians in
opera.

JULIUS DRAKE

The pianist Julius Drake lives in London and enjoys an international reputation as one of the finest
instrumentalists in his field, collaborating with many of the world’s leading artists, both in recital
and on disc. The New Yorker has described him as the “collaborative pianist nonpareil”. He
appears regularly at all the major music centres and festivals: the Aldeburgh, Edinburgh, Munich,
Schubertiade, and Salzburg Music Festivals; Carnegie Hall and Lincoln Center New York; The
Royal Concertgebouw, Amsterdam and Philharmonie, Berlin; the Châtelet and Musée du Louvre
Paris; La Scala, Milan and Teatro de la Zarzuela, Madrid; Musikverein and Konzerthaus, Vienna;
and Wigmore Hall and BBC Proms London.

Director of the Perth International Chamber Music Festival in Australia from 2000 -2003, Julius
Drake was also musical director of Deborah Warner’s staging of Janáček’s Diary of One Who
Vanished, touring to Munich, London, Dublin, Amsterdam and New York. Since 2009 he has been
Artistic Director of the Machynlleth Festival in Wales. Julius Drake’s passionate interest in song
has led to invitations to devise song series for Wigmore Hall, London, the BBC and The Royal
Concertgebouw, Amsterdam. His annual series of song recitals –Julius Drake and Friends –in the
historic Middle Temple Hall in London, has featured recitals with many outstanding vocal artists
including Sir Thomas Allen, Olaf Bär, Ian Bostridge, Angelika Kirchschlager, Iestyn Davies,
Veronique Gens, Sergei Leiferkus, Dame Felicity Lott, Simon Keenlyside, Christopher Maltman,
Mark Padmore, Christoph Prégardien, Amanda Roocroftand Sir Willard White.Julius Drake is
frequently invited to perform at international chamber music festivals –most recently,Lockenhaus
in Austria; West Cork in Ireland; Oxford in England; Boswil in Switzerland and Delft in the
Netherlands.Julius Drake holds a professorship at Graz University for Music and the Performing
Arts in Austria, where he has aclass for song pianists, and is professor of collaborative piano at
the Guildhall School of Music in London.

He is regularly invited to give master classes worldwide; recently in Aldeburgh, Brussels, Utrecht,
Cincinnati, New York, Toronto, Minneapolis, Ann Arbor, Vienna, and at the Schubert Institute in
Baden bei Wien.

Julius Drake’s many recordings include a widely acclaimed series with Gerald Finley for Hyperion,
from which the Barber Songs, Schumann Heine Lieder and Britten Songs and Proverbs won the
2007, 2009 and 2011 Gramophone Awards; award winning recordings with Ian Bostridge for EMI;
several recitals for the Wigmore Live label, with among others Alice Coote, Ian Bostridge, Joyce
DiDonato, Lorraine Hunt Lieberson, Christopher Maltman and Matthew Polenzani; recordings
French Sonatas for Virgin Classics with Nicholas Daniel; of Kodaly and Schoeck sonatas with the
cellists Natalie Clein and Christian Poltéra for the Hyperion and Bis labels; Tchaikovsky and
Mahler with Christianne Stotijn for Onyx; English song with Bejun Mehta for Harmonia Mundi; and
Schubert’s ‘Poetisches Tagebuch’ with Christoph Prégardien, which won the Jahrespreis der
Deutschen Schallplattenkritik 2016.Julius Drake’s most recent CDs have been widely critically
acclaimed and include Janacek’s ‘Diary of One who Disappeared’ with the Scottish tenor Nicky
Spence(Hyperion),winner of a 2020 Gramophone Award and a 2020 BBC Music Magazine
Award;‘Paradise Lost’ (Alpha) with the Austrian soprano Anna Prohaska; and Vol. 6 of the Liszt
Complete Songs (Hyperion) with the German soprano Julia Kleiter. The second CD in this Liszt
series with Angelika Kirchschlager won the BBC Music Magazine Award in 2012.

Concerts in the current and coming seasons include a series to celebrate the Beethoven
anniversary at the 92ndSt Y in New York, a Mahler series at the Concertgebouw in Amsterdam
and a two-season series at the Pierre Boulez Saal in Berlin. Other highlights include recitals at La
Scala, Milan with Aleksandra Kurzak, at Wigmore Hall with Alice Coote, in Barcelona with Sarah
Connolly, at the Schubertiade, Austria with Christoph Prégardien and Ian Bostridge, tours in
Europe with Anna Prohaska and Eva-Maria Westbroek, and recitals at the 2021 Salzburg Festival
and Edinburgh Festival with Gerald Finley.

MICHAEL MOFIDIAN

Winner of the 2018 Royal Over-Seas League Singers’ Prize and the 2017 Pavarotti Prize, Michael
was born and raised in Glasgow, and educated at the University of Cambridge and the Royal
Academy of Music. Michael was a 2018-2020 Jette Parker Young Artist at the Royal Opera
House, Covent Garden where roles included Narumov Queen of Spades, Alcade Forza del
destino, Angelotti Tosca, Zuniga Carmen, Minotauros Phaedra (Linbury Studio Theatre), Johan
Werther, Bass 1 Death in Venice, Dr Grenvil La Traviata, Judge and Chelsias Susanna and
Deputy Don Carlo, as well as covering the roles of Figaro Le nozze di Figaro and Colline La
Bohème. Whilst on the programme he worked under conductors including Sir Tony Pappano,
Edward Gardner, Alexander Joel, Julia Jones and Keri-Lynn Wilson.
He made his Glyndebourne Festival début as the Doctor in Pelléas et Mélisande and the Imperial
Commissioner in Madam Butterfly in the 2018 Festival, where he was a Jerwood Young Artist.
Most recently he sang Don Alfonso Cosi fan Tutte for Scottish Opera, and this season will return to
the Royal Opera House Covent Garden as a guest soloist in the role of Masetto Don Giovanni, as
well as making his Salzburg Festival debut as Angelotti Tosca. Future opera engagements include
roles for Geneva Opera, Opera de Rouen and for the Glyndebourne Festival.
Concert work has included Verdi Requiem; Jesus, Pilate and arias in both Bach Passions; Haydn
Creation; Handel Messiah; Stravinsky Les noces; Beethoven’s 9th Symphony; Mozart Requiem;
Fauré Requiem; and Dvořák Stabat Mater. This season he performed Mahler’s Kindertotenlieder
and a new composition by Roderick Williams with the Britten Sinfonia under Sir Mark Elder.
Michael was a joint winner of the 2017 Oxford Lieder Young Artist Platform and has given recitals
for the Oxford Lieder Festival, the Wigmore Hall, St John’s Smith Square, Queen’s Hall Edinburgh
and most recently City Halls in Glasgow for a BBC broadcast. He recently took part in the first
recording of the complete songs of Erik Chisholm, due to be released in 2021 by Delphian
Records.
Michael is also a composer; his works include pieces for orchestra, instrumental chamber music,
art songs and works for vocal ensemble, and his teachers have included Sir James MacMillan,
Richard Causton and Robin Holloway.
JÂMS COLEMAN

From Anglesey, North Wales, Jâms Coleman is a pianist who enjoys a rich and varied musical life
performing as a soloist, chamber musician and vocal accompanist.

Recent recital highlights include performing with Sir Bryn Terfel in a live Radio 3 broadcast from St
David’s Hall, Cardiff performing with bass-baritone Michael Mofidian at the livestreamed Oxford
Lieder Festival and performing at the Penarth Chamber Music Festival with Lucy Gould, David
Adams, Rebecca Jones and Alice Neary.

Recent recordings include a disc of Loewe songs with baritone Nicholas Mogg for Champs Hill
Records and future recording plans include a recital disc of Czech and Hungarian music with
cellist Laura van der Heijden for Chandos Records.

As a vocal accompanist, he enjoys collaborating with many singers and his engagements include
recitals with Ailish Tynan, James Gilchrist, Sir John Tomlinson, Robert Murray, Nicholas Mulroy,
Nicky Spence, Robert Murray, Andrew Kennedy, James Newby, Lauren Fagan, Michael Mofidian
and Nicholas Mogg.

Chamber-music engagements include performances in the UK and across Europe with
instrumentalists Laura van der Heijden, Jamal Aliyev, Steffan Morris, Timothy Ridout, Peter
Moore, Luke Hsu, and Maggie Faultless. He has performed live on BBC Radio 3, BBC World
Service, BBC 2’s Proms Extra, BBC Radio Cymru and S4C.

Jâms enjoys performing solo recitals and as a concerto soloist. Concerto performances include
Beethoven’s Third, Fourth and Fifth Piano Concertos and concertos by Chopin, Brahms and
Mozart.

Jâms read Music at Girton College, Cambridge, where he was also a choral scholar. In 2016 he
graduated with a Masters from the Royal Academy of Music where he then stayed on as a Fellow.
In 2018 he was the Artistic Director of a concert series based in St Clement Danes Church in
Central London which featured twenty-four lunchtime concerts and five evening concerts.
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